In some versions, she laid two eggs from which the children hatched. [31]. There were many other depictions in the Renaissance, including cycles of book illustrations to Ovid, but most were derivative of the compositions mentioned above. Thanks to the literary renditions of Ovid and Fulgentius[4] it was a well-known myth through the Middle Ages, but emerged more prominently as a classicizing theme, with erotic overtones, in the Italian Renaissance. They were often based on the extremely brief account in the Metamorphoses of Ovid (who does not imply a rape), though Lorenzo de' Medici had both a Roman sarcophagus and an antique carved gem of the subject, both with reclining Ledas. The description of the sexual action going on makes it seem almost beautiful, as if Leda had given her consent. The second is a secretary who suffers a miscarriage. Combining psychological realism with a mystic vision, it describes the swan's rape of Leda. Leda and the Swan is a story and subject in art from Greek mythology in which the god Zeus, in the form of a swan, seduces (or in some versions, rapes) Leda. "The Poems of W.B. [2] In other versions, Helen is a daughter of Nemesis, the goddess who personified the disaster that awaited those suffering from the pride of Hubris.
[11], There were also significant depictions in the smaller decorative arts, also private media.
[citation needed], A statue of an egg depicting the union of Swan/Zeus with Leda, is placed on the island Pefnos of Agios Dimitrios village, in the region of Messenia on the coast of the southern Peloponnese peninsula in Greece. "Leda and the Swan" is written in the style of a Petrarchan sonnet. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. The distance is thus made manifest between divinity and humanity while the longstanding acceptance of division creating a twain which shall not be crossed except in unusual and specific circumstances no longer applies. The infusion of some divinity within the strain of humanity looks forward past the Classical Age to the communion of god and man through the ritual of the Eucharist. Drawing by Cornelis Bos after the lost original by Michelangelo. this section. It also alludes to the Trojan war, which will be provoked by the abduction of Helen, who will be begotten by Zeus on Leda (along with Castor and Pollux, in some versions of the myth). It was purchased by Larry Gagosian for $52.9 million at Christie's May 2017 Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale. GradeSaver, 20 January 2018 Web. Leda and the Swan is a story and subject in art from Greek mythology in which the god Zeus, in the form of a swan, rapes Leda. The myth is also mentioned in Richard Yates' 1962 novel Revolutionary Road.
In the song "Power and Glory" from Lou Reed's 1992 album Magic and Loss, Reed recalls the experience of seeing his friend dying of cancer and makes reference to the myth, "I saw isotopes introduced into his lungs / trying to stop the cancerous spread / And it made me think of Leda and The Swan / and gold being made from lead". Genieve Figgis painted her version of Leda and the Swan in 2018 after an earlier work by François Boucher. resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. The poem is regularly praised as one of Yeats's masterpieces. Sylvia Plath alludes to the myth in her radio play Three Women written for the BBC in 1962. This composition is known from many copies, including an ambitious engraving by Cornelis Bos, c. 1563; the marble sculpture by Bartolomeo Ammanati in the Bargello, Florence; two copies by the young Rubens on his Italian voyage, and the painting after Michelangelo, ca. Yeats was a devoutly committed to the Free State movement in its dealing with an oppressive British government, but was equally committed to bringing independence about through legal and political systems rather than violence. In addition, a sculptural group, similar to the Prado Roman group illustrated, was believed until at least the 19th century to be by Michelangelo. The earliest depictions were all in the more private medium of the old master print, and mostly from Venice. The Poems of W.B. A corporation uses genetic engineering to create a series of female clones (Leda) and a series of male clones (Castor) who are also brothers and sisters clones as they derive from one mother who is a chimera with male and female genomes. [9][10] Palumba made another engraving, perhaps in about 1512, presumably influenced by Leonardo's sketches for his earlier composition, showing Leda seated on the ground and playing with her children. Like many artists, he imagines the beak penetrating Leda's vagina.[27]. "[29] See external links for a bas relief arranged in the position as described by Yeats. Hell no!" According to later Greek mythology, Leda bore Helen and Polydeuces, children of Zeus, while at the same time bearing Castor and Clytemnestra, children of her husband Tyndareus, the King of Sparta. Yeats: Leda and the Swan is a great The third voice, a girl who is pregnant and leaves her baby, mentions "the great swan, with its terrible look,/ Coming at me," insinuating that the girl was raped. [18] After something of a hiatus in the 18th and early 19th centuries (apart from a very sensuous Boucher,[19]), Leda and the Swan became again a popular motif in the later 19th and 20th centuries, with many Symbolist and Expressionist treatments.
There are two major transformations in "Leda and the Swan." There are two major transformations in "Leda and the Swan." Yeats: Leda and the Swan by William Butler Yeats. In the latter novel, the myth is brought to life in the form of a performance in which a frightened young girl is forced to act as Leda in accompaniment with a large mechanical swan. Figgis’ contemporary version reinvents the idyllic romantic scene of lavish playfulness with a dark humor creating a scene of profanity and horror. Also from that era were sculptures of the theme by Antonin Mercié and Max Klinger. (Ulpiano Checa). We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. Yeats: Leda and the Swan Summary, Read the Study Guide for The Poems of W.B. [14] The Michelangelo composition, of about 1530, shows Mannerist tendencies of elongation and twisted pose (the figura serpentinata) that were popular at the time. Clytaemnestra, who killed her husband, Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks at Troy, was also supposed to have hatched from one of Leda's eggs. ", Understanding the History: Antimonial Vision of Yeats, View our essays for The Poems of W.B. The titular swan is the mythological god of gods, Zeus and Leda is the mother-to-be of Helen of Troy. Sex is a problematic subject in "Leda and the Swan" because the word "ra... Zeus was the chief figure in the pantheon of Greek gods who lived on Mount Olympus and created enough drama to fill a thousand years worth of television soap operas. [23], American artist and photographer Carole Harmel created the "Bird" series (1983), a Jean Cocteau-influenced collection of photographs that explored the "Leda and the Swan" myth in tightly cropped, voyeuristic images of a nude female and an undefinable birdlike creature hinting at intimacy. First and most obviously, the Greek god Zeus transforms himself into a swan in order to have sex with Leda. For Yeats, the only salvation is the shapeliness and stillness of art. [24][25], Bristol Museum and Art Gallery currently exhibits Karl Weschke's Leda and the Swan, painted in 1986. You've been inactive for a while, logging you out in a few seconds... Yeats wrote a number of poems about sex and specifically the mysterious connection between our spiritual and animal natures. This shows Leda and the Swan making love with gusto, despite being on top of a triumphal car, being pulled along and surrounded by a considerable crowd. Did an eagle apologize? Yeats: Leda and the Swan…. Yeats: Leda and the Swan, About The Poems of W.B. (Hilda Doolittle) also wrote a poem called "Leda" in 1919, suggested to be from the perspective of Leda. Leda and the Swan copy by Giovanni Francesco Melzi after the lost painting by Leonardo, 1508–1515, oil on canvas, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy. Photographer Charlie White included a portrait of Leda in his "And Jeopardize the Integrity of the Hull" series. Or in the foreground, as in this poem. Leda and the Swan by François Boucher, 1740, oil on canvas. "Leda and the Swan" is a sonnet by William Butler Yeats first published in the Dial in 1923. In the W. B. Yeats version, it is subtly suggested that Clytemnestra, although being the daughter of Tyndareus, has somehow been traumatized by what the swan has done to her mother (see below). The theme of "Leda and the Swan" by Yeats is that of succumbing to the momentum of physical experience while caught up in the moment. First and most obviously, the Greek god Zeus transforms himself into a swan in order to have sex with Leda. [citation needed], There is a life-sized marble statue of Leda and the Swan at the Jai Vilas Palace Museum in Gwalior, Northern Madhya Pradesh, India. Ovid Illustrated – large site from the University of Virginia, where many depictions of Leda and the Swan from Renaissance and later editions of the Metamorphoses will (eventually) be found. The Poems of W.B. [20], Cy Twombly executed an abstract version of Leda and the Swan in 1962. The damage has been repaired, though full restoration to the original condition was not possible. Several references to the myth are presented in novels by Angela Carter, including Nights at the Circus and The Magic Toyshop. [26], Ronsard wrote a poem on La Défloration de Lède, perhaps inspired by the Michelangelo, which he may well have known. However it is known from many copies, of which the earliest are probably the Spiridon Leda, perhaps by a studio assistant and now in the Uffizi,[13] and the one at Wilton House in the United Kingdom (illustrated). Bull p. 167. You can help us out by revising, improving and updating "Art Facts: a mix of media on Wells Street", Third Vintage Contemporaries Edition, 2008, pg106, collection of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Special Exhibitions: Poets, Lovers, and Heroes in Italian Mythological Prints, Bacchiacca (Francesco d'Ubertino): Leda and the Swan | Work of Art | Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, "The monument of the Dioscuri in Stoupa was inaugurated", Version of Leda and the Swan myth, in the "Fabulae" of Hyginus, Bas relief from the British Museum that appears as the scene does in the Yeats sonnet.
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